MUMBAI: The BJP is trying to use the Citizenship Act issue in an attempt to woo the Shiv Sena, which had walked out of the 30-year coalition after accusing its alliance partner of not honouring a pre-poll promise for power-sharing in Maharashtra.
Amid flip flop by the Sena in Parliament over the CAA, former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said in a TV interview to Marathi news channel that the BJP’s doors were always open for party while another party leader, Ashish Shelar, said the BJP can ‘compromise in interest of the Shiv Sena’ if it implements the new citizenship law in the state.
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Speaking to reporters in Nashik, Shelar said, “The Shiv Sena shouldn’t shun its core ideology and change its stand under pressure from the Congress. The Citizenship Act is in the interest of the nation as well as Maharashtra and hence the chief minister should implement it. If doing so brings his government under threat, the BJP is ready to make a compromise with the Shiv Sena to save the government.”
Shelar’s comments came a day after Sena’s minister Eknath Shinde indicated that the tri-party MVA government is likely to block implementation of CAA in Maharashtra.